op·ti·mi·za·tion

op·ti·mi·za·tion

noun

1. the action of making the best or most effective use of a situation or resource.

We’ve been told a day is a resource

And the most effective use of that resource is to

optimise as much as possible

in order to output as much as possible

And we do that by cramming tasks in like Tetris blocks

We’re encouraged to lessen the space between tasks until the two walls of the hallway close in and squeeze us alive

Our worth is what we have completed in our hands at the end of the day

The output to brandish and say look, I matter. I mean something.

Why open your ribs for a deep breath when a half-breath will get you there faster?

Why hold eye contact when human connection cannot be measured nor achieved, just felt

and feelings and connection cannot be commodified like benchmarks and achievements

Best to get back to work

The problem is

The human body is the deepest sea of nerves and a towering cathedral of wisdom

Older than the first computer, the first monument, the first whatever metric you’re measuring yourself by this season

And if you continue to override the feeling of your chest being carved out whole,

left to dry under the frying microwaves of electronics

pulling you back into output mind

It’ll eventually override it all

and it won’t be polite

it will not ask permission

it’ll flood the narrow hallway

Shatter the windows

And while you’re blinking at the wreckage of your straw house

your illusion of productivity and worth and meaning

you will see the sun streaming through the cracks in the walls

and feel it gently warm your face